PATAGONIA AND THE PATAGONIANS. 



PATAGONIANS. 



CHAPTER XL. 



PATAGONIA AND THE PATAGONIANS. 



Difference of Climate between East and West Patagonia.— Extraordinary^ Aridity' of East Patagonia.— 

 Zoology.— The Guanaco.— TheTiicutuco.— The Patagonian Agouti.— Vultures.— The Turkey-buz- 

 zard.— The Carrancha.— The Chimango.— Darwin's Ostrich.— The Patagonians.— Exaggerated Ac- 

 counts of their Stature.— Their Physiognomy and Dress.— Religious Ideas.— Superstitions.— Astro- 

 nomical Knowledge.— Division into Tribes.— The Tent, or Toldo.— Trading Routes.— Tlie great 

 Cacique. — Introduction of the Horse. — Industry. — Amusements. — Character. 



PATAGONIA, the southern extremity of the American continent, is divided 

 by the ridge of the Andes into two parts of a totally different character. 

 Its western coast-lands, washed by the cold Antarctic current and exposed to 

 the humid gales of a restless ocean, are almost constantly obscured with clouds 

 and drenched with rain. Dense forests, dripping with moisture, clothe the 

 steep hill-sides ; and, from the coldness of the summer, the snow-line is so low 

 that for 650 miles northward of Tierra del Fuego almost every arm of the 

 sea which penetrates to the interior higher chain is terminated by huge glaciers 

 descending to the water's edge. 



East Patagonia, on the contrary, a vast plain rising in successive terraces 

 from the Atlantic to the foot of the Cordillera, is one of the most arid regions 

 of the globe. The extreme dryness of the prevailing westerly winds, wdiich 

 have been- totally deprived of their humidity before crossing the Andes, and 

 the well-rounded shingles which compose tlie soil, have entailed tlie curse of 



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